Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Paul Scofield, Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Brian Blessed, Richard Briers

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Summary: Former playboy Henry decides to change his image now he's King and lays claim to France. The men of England unite and agree to march on France. Henry, having successfully dealt with an assassination attempt, rouses his followers as they stand-by ready to meet the French cavalry... Based on the play by William Shakespeare.

Kenneth Branagh makes his directorial debut and also plays the title role in HENRY V, an ambitious film that began a resurgence of interest in films of Shakespeare's plays. Henry is a young king seeking a way to make his mark on history. He gets his chance when he learns he can make a legal claim to the throne of France. He does, and arrives in France with a small army that soon meets with violent resistance from the French. The film follows Henry and his men through the brutality of 15th-century warfare as the ragtag band confronts heavy opposition and their own destinies on a rainy French battlefield. The film expertly balances the thrilling heroics of the battle sequences with the painful and complex reactions of men who are sometimes unsure of the justice of their cause. True to Shakespeare's original text, an unnamed Chorus (Derek Jacobi) appears periodically, filling in details and offering a running commentary on the action. Featuring a cast that includes Ian Holm, Paul Scofield, Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Christian Bale and many other screen stars, HENRY V is a rousing, fascinating film about the power of courage and the price of glory.

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Very few first-time film directors would have been capable of making such a triumphant adaptation of Henry V; but a still-youthful Kenneth Branagh's years of stage experience paid off handsomely and his 1989 version qualifies as a genuine masterpiece, the kind of film that comes along once in a decade. He eschews the theatricality of Laurence Olivier's stirring, fondly remembered 1945 adaptation to establish his own rules: Branagh plays it down and dirty, seeing the Bard's play through revisionist eyes, framing it as an anti-war story in contrast to Olivier's patriotic spectacle. Branagh gives us harsh close-ups of muddied, bloody men, and of himself as Henry, his hardened mouth and wilful eyes revealing much about the personal cost of war. Not that the director-star doesn't provide lighter moments: his scenes introducing the French Princess Katherine (Emma Thompson) trying to learn English quickly from her maid are delightful.

What may be the crowning glory of Branagh's adaptation comes when the dazed leader wanders across the battlefield, not even sure who has won. As King Hal carries a dead boy (a young Christian Bale) over the hacked bodies of both the English and French, a panorama of blood and mud and death greet the viewer as Branagh opens up the scene and Patrick Doyle's rousing hymn "Non nobis, Domine" provides marvellous counterpoint (like the director, the composer was another filmic first-timer). A more potent expression of the price of victory could scarcely be imagined. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Scene Selection, Trailer
Subtitles:	None
Year:	1989
Release Date:	June 17, 2002
Runtime:	131 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	902 761 9
Keywords:	Classic, Book, Never, Henry, General, Wide, Screen, Drama, V, Released, Based
Genre:	Drama